


Lovely Little Lion

by Celestios



Category: Chungha (Musician), NCT (Band), Real Person Fiction
Genre: Adoption, Age Play, Animalistic Behaviors, Crying, Daddy Johnny, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Discipline, Fluff, Hybrid AU, Hybrid Adoption, Hybrids, Hybrids don't have rights, Just non-con ownership, Minors DNI, Mommy Chungha, Multi, NO rape, No noncon, Non-Sexual Age Play, Non-Sexual Slavery, Non-consensual Ownership, Pet and ownership warning, Slavery tag due to the ownership, Teething, Temper Tantrums, Territorial Behavior, bottle feeding, primal instincts, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:15:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23504449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celestios/pseuds/Celestios
Summary: Mark, a sweet and happy little lion hybrid cub, gets stuck in a tree while out with his mommy and daddy.Jaehyun, a domesticated cat hybrid, is the only one who can get him down.
Relationships: Kim Chungha/Mark Lee/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Kim Chungha/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 4
Kudos: 100





	1. The Tree Incident

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



Pandemonium.

It’s a word Johnny would definitely use to describe his life with Mark. Ever since they’d adopted the cub, put up for adoption much too early, their days are filled with busy schedules revolving around their little world. Because that’s precisely what Mark was; their whole world. He was the moon that never shone too brightly amongst the city lights, the sun that always woke too early for either of their tastes, warm and brilliant and ever so cheerful, and the stars that littered that night sky that brought them comfort if they could ever see them, and quite often they could. Mark was their everything, and everyone knew it.

Mark was a pretty hybrid; a lion hybrid, large fuzzy ears he’d yet to grow into, fangs that, although sharp, were still sprouting and quite often caused him toothaches, his eyes a deep, golden brown, like brown brick building bathing under the sun’s light. His tail is soft and often out of his control, swishing it around furiously when he’s excited, which is often. His claws they try to keep short and trimmed so that he doesn’t take to clawing things, but he does sometimes, mostly opting to knead them so that he doesn’t tear up the furniture. They’re used to it. They let him, because he is their everything.

And because Mark is their everything, they know him well enough to know the things he would get into after years of raising the lion cub together. Mark was adventurous, a little too brave for his own good, but also silly and cautious, a mix that they deemed quite appropriate. Mark would go out and chase the birds in the backyard, but never for too long, never straying too far in case he would lose sight of them. Mark liked to try new things but only in the comfort of his mommy and daddy, especially if they showed him it was okay. He would get into miscellaneous trouble that most pups often got into, but in meager amounts, small kinds of trouble that was easily warded off or weaned down with a simple warning. He was brave enough to try the world around him but not quite fearless.

Which is why it shouldn’t have come to a surprise when he’d climbed up the tree at the park they’d been having a picnic in like that, Johnny thinks to himself. He’d seen him doing it, struggling with the branches, his nails digging their way into the bark. He’d warned Mark not to go too high, keeping an eye out for him every so often, until he saw that Mark’s high was high enough and he’d yelled his name for him to come down. But now Mark _isn’t_ coming down, and Johnny and Chungha are at a loss, trying their very best to try and get him down without having to involve professional help. 

“It’s really not that high,” Johnny says, “I can just go up and grab him,”

“He’s not as small as he used to be. If you fall, both of you could get hurt,” Chungha says under her breath, as if Mark isn’t several branches high into the air to hear her. “He’ll be okay. He needs to learn that we can’t always do everything for him.”

Quite a sucker punch of a lesson but Johnny knows that she’s right. Mark is spoiled, though he’s never rotten, and they need to start pushing him to do things on his own a little bit.

“I know he’s scared but he just won’t come down,” Johnny huffs. It’s not often he gets frustrated. And he’s not frustrated with Mark, no, he could never be mad at his kitten for being _frightened_. He’s frustrated that this is even happening in the first place. Mark is too curious for his own good.

“Mark!” Chungha yells again. “Just come down the same way you went up! You won’t fall!”

“I can’t!”

“Mark, we’re right here. You won’t get hurt!” Johnny looks up at their kitten who, really, isn’t that high up to begin with and sighs. But it’s high enough that if he falls, he _could_ get hurt. 

“I _can’t_!” Mark bursts into tears and they both sigh. Johnny is fishing out his phone to dial a hybrid service or, heck, maybe even a firefighter, but stops when he feels a gentle tap on his shoulder.

“Excuse me?”

Johnny and Chungha turn face to face with another hybrid much like their own, though still vastly different; a beautiful, sleek and polite looking cat hybrid, an obviously domesticated breed unlike Mark. Their ears are short and simple, black like their hair and their tail. They have a friendly air about them and are quick to glance up to Mark, who’s still crying in his tree branch. 

“Is that your kitten that’s stuck?”

“Yes,” Johnny sighs. “He won’t come down. He’s afraid, and he won’t listen to us. I’m afraid if we go up there we’ll just make it worse.”

“Would you like me to try?”

Johnny and Chungha exchange a glance. Though this stranger is a hybrid just like their own cub, he’s still _their_ cub, and neither seem quite keen on having a stranger go and get their cub down from the tree. The hybrid must sense their apprehension because he bows politely and speaks again.

“My name is Jung Yoonoh, but everyone calls me Jaehyun! I only offered because I used to get stuck in trees all the time when I was a kit and my Papa used to have to get me down a lot.”

Chungha and Johnny share another glance but in the end they both just nod. “You can try, and see if he’ll come down for you. We would appreciate it. He’s a lion cub, though, just to put it out there,”

Johnny and Chungha hate having to ‘warn’ people that their hybrid is a wild breed, knowing how much discrimination larger breeds can get. People had tried to warn them at first, telling them that lion hybrids are wild and too dangerous and that they can be quite vicious when they grow older. But Mark is not violent nor is he vicious; he’s sweet as can be, polite and loving. He’s just stuck in a tree.

“Cats are cats,” Jaehyun laughs, “what’s his name?”

“Mark.”

“Okay,” Jaehyun smiles and nods once again, wandering over to the base of the tree. He chitters a bit, to which Mark stops crying and looks down at him with rabid interest. To Johnny and Chungha’s amazement, Mark chitters back. Jaehyun smiles before pulling himself up to the lowest branch nearly expertly. He doesn’t go any higher though, just reaches his hands up to Mark. “Mark, your mommy and daddy are really worried. Do you think you can try and come down? It’s okay, you won’t fall. If you come down two big branches, I can catch you,”

Mark blinks down at the stranger, wiping the tears out of his eyes. Johnny and Chungha both know that he really wants to come down, that he doesn’t want to be stuck in the tree and calling anyone else would probably make him nervous. They hope that Jaehyun can be a reliable and comforting source for their little cub.

Mark shakes his head but he doesn’t look so adamant about saying no. 

“I think you were really brave to climb that high. Do you think you can be brave again and come back down?” Jaehyun smiles sweetly and Mark bites his lip, his still growing fangs poking out from under his lip sweetly. His tail swishes back and forth as he thinks. Jaehyun chitters again softly as Mark begins to move, slowly, so slowly that Chungha and Johnny barely notice it. But he moves, his sneakered foot finding its way down to the branch below him while he freezes, his nails buried into the bark of the tree.

“That’s it, cub. Just like that.” Jaehyun wiggles his fingers out for Mark. “Come on, it’s okay.” 

They watch with severe scrutiny, afraid that Mark could misstep, but once he gets down two branches, he stops, looking down at Jaehyun with his round, sparkly eyes, and both of them frown in case he stops again. 

“Can you come down one more branch?” Jaehyun asks gently, his tail wrapping around the branch closest to him where he stands. Mark lets out a small, unhappy meow, but Jaehyun just shushes him. “One more, I promise. When my hand can touch your shoe I can get you. Okay?”

Mark looks very unhappy about having to move yet again, and they both worry that he’s going to start crying again. But he doesn’t; he just smacks his tail angrily against the tree before moving down one more branch, sitting down and wrapping his own tail around the thick wood. Jaehyun glances over his shoulder to them and smiles, to let them know everything is fine, before outstretching his arms. His feet are strategically placed against the crook of the branch, where it meets the tree, and he digs his sneakers in for a moment to make sure he won’t fall.

“You can jump, cub. You’re not high up. I’ll catch you,”

“No!”

“Mark, it’s okay,” 

“Should we tell him to jump?” Johnny whispers to Chungha, who’s still staring at the two hybrids.

“A gentle push wouldn’t hurt,” she tells him. She takes a step forward and calls Mark’s name. “Mark; you need to do what Jaehyunie says. Don’t you want to come down?”

Mark lets out a displeased sounding chuff.

“Minhyungie,” Chungha calls, “don’t make mommy sad. She misses you. Can you be a brave boy and jump for Jaehyunie? He’s got you.”

Mark lets out one more unhappy noise before leaning forward where he sits, tail still curled around the branch. Jaehyun shifts on the balls of his feet. He can barely reach Mark but if he jumps he can safely catch him.

“Come on, kitten,” Jaehyun claps his hands together. “It’s okay,”

Mark unwraps his tail and slides himself off of the branch and Johnny’s heart stops for a moment when he does clumsily drop, but it’s only for a moment, because Jaehyun grabs him, quickly adjusting him in his arms. Mark must not mind him too much because he presses his cheek against his head gently and whispers to him as he steps down from the tree branch, carrying him down. The moment both feet are on solid grass, though, Mark squirms out of Jaehyun’s hold and runs straight into Mommy’s arms. Jaehyun doesn’t seem to mind though, he just laughs. 

“Minhyungie,” Chungha coos while she cards her fingers through Mark’s hair as he nuzzles into her chest, scenting her to his heart’s content. “Don’t do that again, okay?”

“ ‘kay,” he whispers, and it’s not long before he’s got her toppled over onto the grass to lick at her face. Johnny sits down next to her and pets Mark, tugging gently at his ears. 

“Mark, why don’t you go thank Jaehyun-ssi for helping you, hm?” Johnny gestures Jaehyun over, who now seems to lose his bravado, and heads over to them shyly. Mark stops nuzzling the both of them to sit up and chitter inquisitively at Jaehyun, who bends over and sticks out a hand for him to sniff before patting his head.

“Uh, thank you,” Mark says quietly. Jaehyun smiles.

“Of course! Next time, try not to climb very high without your mommy or daddy, okay?”

Mark nods quietly. Jaehyun goes to move away, but Mark catches him by the ends of his jeans, and tugs on his pant leg, rubbing his cheek against Jaehyun’s leg.

“Mark!” Johnny raises his voice slightly, going to grab him. “No! You do _not_ touch others without their permission.”

“Mark,” Chungha warns when he huffs, embarrassed at being scolded so suddenly.

“It’s okay, hyung, he’s just a cub,” Jaehyun says dismissively, “I’m not offended. He’ll learn with time.”

“Still, he needs to learn that that’s not okay early in life,” Johnny says, pulling Mark into his lap. “He hasn’t been out too many times yet, he’s still getting used to life outside the home, we apologize.”

“It’s okay,” Jaehyun squats down to their height. “I’m glad to meet another large breed. It’s not very often you do and people don’t treat them as nicely as they should.”

Jaehyun pets around the base of Mark’s ears, and they both purr. Though Jaehyun’s purr is soft and Mark’s is loud, nearly vibrating.

“Thank you again,” Chungha says, “really. You did so well.”

“Thank you,” Jaehyun gives a tiny bow from where he’s kneeling in the grass in front of them. “I’m happy that I could help.”

“We’re happy you could help, too,” Chungha smiles. They let Jaehyun stay with them, promise to buy him something sweet like ice cream maybe, and watch Mark become enamored with his new friend. They were both just happy that Mark was safe, emotionally and physically. And the tree incident was forgotten in a manner of minutes as Mark played with Jaehyun, right back to his usual energy, running around and chewing on his toys. But he didn’t wander one step back over to the tree.

  
  



	2. The harness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark doesn’t like his new harness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw for overstimulation, temper tantrums

> Johnny stands in the living room of their house, hands on his hips. Their living room has been the center of attention for most of their married life: they’ve held gatherings, sad moments, moments of pure and utter joy. It’s seen both good and bad, both physical and emotional, and has had its trying times. Johnny’s washes the carpet more times than he can count, shampooed the couch, repainted the walls. Everything was constantly under construction with their cub around, and everything strategically placed and decorated in a way that Mark couldn’t get to it. Especially since the living room, which was near the front door, was Mark’s favorite place to throw tantrums. 

And tantrums with Mark were a broad spectrum, ranging from some tired chitters and weak head nuzzles into the shoulder to full blown limb flailing and loud, messy tears. Mark was a vocal cub with a healthy set of lungs and voice box and he let the all the world, especially his mommy and daddy, know. 

Like right now: Mark lies on the floor, smacking his legs and tail against the rug, crying his eyes out over his new harness. It’s been about ten minutes so he’s bound to tire himself out soon. He never did last long.

Johnny has bought the hybrid harness and leash so that Mark wouldn’t wander off, and so no one could bring him any harm. Mark was excitable and wandered off at times, like in the backyard or at the park since he was still new to outings, and the couple didn’t want to lose him. But more so than that, Mark was  _ fast _ and if he did wander off and get spooked there was no way they could catch him.

So, the most reasonable and sensible idea was the harness and leash. It fit like a normal, fashionable harness, made out of black elastic, softer than normal ones, with a leash attached from the back. It was practical, safe and  _ supposed  _ to be comfortable. It fit Mark fine: Johnny could fit more than two fingers and tug the harness around just fine. They’d shown Mark, who hadn’t looked exactly fond of it. He’d been skeptical but agreed to wear it because this was the new outing rule. And it has gone on alright, until he’d decided that he didn’t like it. And when he’d tried to take it off and couldn’t and asked for help, Johnny had explained that it wasn’t coming off until they were back home.

And then Mark has thrown himself onto the floor to cry. 

And ten minutes had passed of him rolling around the rug, trying to unlatch their harness without any success, causing him further distress. Johnny feels downright  _ awful,  _ watching his little cub in such discomfort, but he knows that he has to enforce the rules.

“Mark,” he tries calling his cub’s name, “I think it’s time to sit up and talk, don’t you?”

Mark babbles incoherently. That’s okay. Johnny goes over to him and squats down to where he lies on the floor, face messy from crying.

“Mark, the harness won’t hurt you. You may not like it but you need to wear it when we leave the house. It’s there to keep you safe.”

“But I don’t like it! It feels weird!”

“That’s because you’re not used to it. It’s not tight and it’s not painful. You’ll get used to it. It’s only for a couple hours.”

“No!” Mark drums his socked feet against the floor. “Take it off!”

“Mark, I already said it won’t come off until we come back home.” 

Johnny reaches out to pet his ears and Mark wails.

“I don’t  _ like _ it! It feels funny!”

Johnny thinks that it might be time to just accept the loss and take the harness off. Mark is obviously too overwhelmed by the feeling, and now he’s overstimulated. This means that going out will only cause a further meltdown. He didn’t think they would have to harness/leash train him but clearly, doing it while out wasn’t going to be an option at all. 

“Take it off, take it off, want it off!” Mark paws at Johnny’s leg, tugging on his pants, and Johnny nearly topples over. 

“Mark! We don’t yank on people’s pants, that’s how they fall and get hurt,” Johnny scolds him lightly because he knows his cub is having a meltdown now and he can’t help it. 

Fuck it. He pulls Mark closer by the leg and shushes him, noticing how he goes limp while Johnny undoes the strap to the harness and slides it off over his head. Mark stops his tantrum, and lies there, wiping at his eyes. Johnny feels like a dick for trying to make him wear the harness. They’ll work on it. But for now, if they need to go out, he’ll just have to hold both Mommy and Daddy’s hands. 

“I’m sorry, cub, I know that was very new and overwhelming for you, huh?” Johnny rubs Mark’s ears. Despite the tears in his eyes, he lets out a soft purr. He wipes his face with his sleeve and Johnny clicks his tongue. “Don’t use your sleeve. Come on, let’s go wash your face,”

Mark chuffs when Johnny tries to pick him up. 

“Mark, please use your words.”

“Don’t wanna move,” he whines. 

“Do you think we need to take five minutes to calm ourselves? And then we can move?”

Mark peers up at Johnny with glossy eyes, and nods, and Johnny kisses his head. 

“Okay. Five minutes and then we’ll go wash your face and call Mommy. How does that sound?”

Mark just nods again, clearly burnt out from his tantrum. He nuzzles his face into Johnny’s knee, and Johnny continues to pet him while he purrs. 

“Good boy, Mark.”

They can try the harness another day, he thinks. But for today they’ll stay home and he’ll let Mark warm up to the idea of it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Twitter: @autumnacorns
> 
> CC: @autumnacorns


End file.
